Sermon: Heavenly Minded, Earthly Good

 

10:30 am, Sun, July 31, 2022 - J G White / FBC Amherst

(Hosea 11:1-11; Colossians 3:1-11; Luke 12:13-21)

 1 So if you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. So begins Colossians chapter 3, and what a lovely start to a chapter that may have some of your most favourite lines in the Bible, or your least favourite.

The old, bearded Man in the clouds may be what comes to mind when you hear these words. God, up there; Jesus up there; they each sit on a throne. Our imaginations are tainted with centuries of artwork and legends. And what Middle-Eastern people imagined two thousand years ago would not be quite what we do. We must get behind the words and images, to the meaning. The Kingdom of the Heavens, and the Earth, are two realities that touch, that even overlap, in our experience. Bringing them together is the work of our God. This is the story we tell.

So, the author of Colossians tells it his own way, in today’s chapter, with lots of encouragement about this life. 2 Set your minds on the things that are above, not on the things that are on earth, might seem like being heavenly minded but no earthly good. We know better. We know this must be about both – being ‘heavenly minded’ and ‘earthly good.’ The real question may be: can you be earthly good – live a good life – without being heavenly minded, religious, spiritual, Christian?

A month ago I took a two-day course in map reading, navigation and compass use. Our instructor (from Pugwash, Greg Nix) had the ten of us learn and put into practice some basic skills so we could use the basic tools to get around in a landscape. Many of you must know some of the proper techniques: how to take a bearing and stay walking in a straight line; how to use some landmarks and your map to work out where you are. And so on. Often, keeping your head up, looking around and afar, is important. You can’t be just watching the ground in front of you.

Easy for me to lose track of my track! I am always looking at all the plants right around me – the ferns, the orchids and other wildflowers, the grasses and sedges, the shrubs, the trees. Also the lichens and mushrooms and birds. Pretty soon I have not much idea how far I travelled and where I ended up.

It is a matter of keeping perspective, of pausing to see the big picture. As it is in hiking and hunting, so it is in the path our personal lives take. There is a ‘big picture’ to be aware of and to guide our steps. Set your minds on things ‘above’ so you can live better on the earth.

3 for you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God, says Colossians 3... 4 When Christ who is your life is revealed, then you also will be revealed with him in glory. For you have died. This is, of course, what our full immersion baptism celebrates. We lay down, dead, and rise up, alive like never before. What an evocative phrase: “your life is hidden with Christ in God.” There are so many ways to express a new beginning in life.

And a ‘new life’ can begin with many chapters at many times, thank God. I think of friends I know – new and long-time, who remember and celebrate: so many years sober, so many years since they quit smoking, so many years since they go out of jail. Other folks rejoice in one year cancer free, or five years, or twenty. And there are those who always recall that time when they came back to the Church, to the faith, to Christ.

A new chapter in our life begins with the death of some old things. 5 Put to death, therefore, whatever in you is earthly: says this page in the Bible. What things about you have been “put to death?” Your list may well be different from my list. My personality and problems need different improvement from yours.

This part of the Colossians chapter is really a classic bit of writing from that age. It is called the ‘two ways’ form, really because it contrasts two ways of going – the bad and the good. We see this in other New Testament letters. It starts with a strong introductory statement: “Put to death, therefore, whatever in you is earthly.” Then it speaks of ways to live or ways not to live. In this case we read: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed (which is idolatry). Thirdly, the cosmic consequences are told. 6 On account of these the wrath of God is coming on those who are disobedient.

The author gets back to the list of wrongs and adds to it. Our list today may be similar, but it will not be the identical. 7 These are the ways you also once followed, when you were living that life. 8 But now you must get rid of all such things: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive language from your mouth.

It is suggested here that there is a setting your mind on things that are above, which helps us achieve these improvements. Our spiritual practices are for the sake of our ordinary conversations and relationships. Our prayers are for the sake of our actions. Our Bible is for the sake of our personal betterment.

As the centuries go by, each generation of humans struggles to discover how to get rid of anger, nasty talk, immoral desires, greed, and so on. We have many techniques; we also need to be inspired. Sometimes, the beauty of language itself will help us. Such as this clothing talk: take this off to put that on.

9 Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have stripped off the old self with its practices 10 and have clothed yourselves with the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge according to the image of its creator.

I hear there are some costumes in a room downstairs. I hear some of you have been the wearers, on stage, of those outfits. I hear there has been great laughter, and great power, in those fanciful moments. As it should be.

There are many ways to ‘strip off the old self’ and get in touch with where God will transform us. Doing some drama or some comedy are great methods. How about jumping?

A great photographer of the 20^th century was Philippe Halsman. One thing he did was ask people to jump, and he took their photos. He wrote:

"Starting in the early 1950s I asked every famous or important person I photographed to jump for me.  I was motivated by a genuine curiosity.  After all, life has taught us to control and disguise our facial expressions, but it has not taught us to control our jumps.  I wanted to see famous people reveal in a jump their ambition or their lack of it, their self-importance or their insecurity, and many other traits." (“Philippe Halsman’s Jump Book,” 1959— reissued by Abrams, 1986).

Something different of the real Jeff, or the real You, comes out, when we jump, when we sing, when we paint, when we tell a story. Some of the old can come off and get replaced with some of the new in you. In this we must look for the work of God.

I want to glimpse something deeper in you, when you do something a bit different. When you see and discover something new. When you face a new pain or problem. When you receive an unexpected gift. The simple, earthly things we do can be for our ‘heavenly’ good. And this does not mean our ‘life after death.’ This is about our deeper selves: the human spirit – alive and growing here and now.

I think, by now, I have wandered all over the map, claiming to be walking through Colossians 3. Perhaps, I have neglected to follow the compass of scripture or the North Pole, Jesus. I hope we can appreciate how our Guiding Sprit has many ways to take us into new land – in our lives – that is greater than our lives before. May it be Jesus who is our Way through the wilderness towards renewal. Colossians 3:11 says:+ In that renewal there is no longer Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, enslaved and free, but Christ is all and in all!

From our grandchildren Sharon and I have learned the movie, Frozen 2, and what Kristoff sings. Could we sing it to Jesus?

Now I know you're my true north,

'cause I am lost in the woods

Up is down, day is night, when you're not there

Oh, you're my only landmark,

so I'm lost in the woods

Wondering if you still care.

Our Guide, and our Outfitter for this journey, is Christ Jesus. Can we put it that way, to our world? And so we find our way to be transformed. Connected, we get recreated. Minds with the Heavenly One, we are more earthly good.

Let me finish up with part of Colossians 3 we did not read today, but this was read here back on December 26^th, by Ed. This time, I’ll read from Eugene Peterson’s adaptation, The Message:

12 So, chosen by God for this new life of love, dress in the wardrobe God picked out for you: compassion, kindness, humility, quiet strength, discipline. Be even-tempered, content with second place, quick to forgive an offense. Forgive as quickly and completely as the Master forgave you. And regardless of what else you put on, wear love. It’s your basic, all-purpose garment. Never be without it.

15-17 Let the peace of Christ keep you in tune with each other, in step with each other. None of this going off and doing your own thing. And cultivate thankfulness. Let the Word of Christ—the Message—have the run of the house. Give it plenty of room in your lives. Instruct and direct one another using good common sense. And sing, sing your hearts out to God! Let every detail in your lives—words, actions, whatever—be done in the name of the Master, Jesus, thanking God the Father every step of the way.

Sermon: Captive, Condemned, Disqualified

 

Captive, Condemned, Disqualified

10:30 am, Sun, July 24, 2022 - J G White / FBC Amherst

(Psalm 85; Colossians 2:6-19; Luke 11:1-13)

 It’s 1996. I’m a 25 year old fresh graduate from Acadia Divinity College, so you might think I’d be somewhat divine. ;)  I’ve been interviewed by a committee from three Baptist Churches, looking for their next Minister. I’ve just visited them and preached at a service. At the meet-and-greet afterwards, the chair of the Pulpit Committee gives the congregation an opportunity to ask me, the candidate, questions. 

The people seem more scared to ask me anything than I am to answer.  Finally, one fellow does speak up. He asks a question. A theological question. A bit of doctrine. It is a brief question he asks me. 

“Where is the new covenant?”

 How would you answer that? 

I fumbled some sort of answer.  I felt, in the moment, this man was looking for just the right, exact words from my mouth. I had no idea what! (He probably wanted me to say something like, “The new covenant is in the blood of Jesus.”)

We have plenty enough of ‘do this, don’t do that; believe this, don’t say that’ in the history of Christianity without adding more rules. But we keep doing it. And it ends up being a competition: “I’m right, you’ve got it wrong!” This will not work.

Whatever false teachings were being spread in Colossae in the first century, this letter to the Christians there encouraged them to let no one lead them astray in their thinking, religion, or spirituality.

To be grounded, rooted deeply in Jesus the Christ, is the key to staying on track. It says, here, 6 As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, continue to walk in him, 7 rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving. Then the author gets into a pep talk, to keep the readers on track. In the face of opposition and pressure to turn away from their new Faith, they are told ‘let no one take you captive,’ ‘do not let anyone condemn you,’ and ‘do not let anyone disqualify you.’

[Captive to thinking] Still today, we need not let anyone take us captive through thoughts and theories and the latest human ways of explaining life. We read here: 8 Watch out that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental principles of the world, and not according to Christ.

Watch out that no one takes you captive. Eugene Peterson retranslated it this way: Watch out of people who try to dazzle you with big words and intellectual double-talk.  

For me, it is about priorities. I like thinkers. I like theories. I don’t ever come up with any of my own, but reading books and hearing people talk on lots of ideas fascinates me. At my best moments, I pay attention to Jesus in the room. When it is all said and done, my conversation must be with the Master. I wonder about things with the wonderful Spirit.

This is our lesson for our world today. This is what we have to offer. A deep Root to nourish us, that allows us to grow up and out and explore this thing called life. That root is Christ; that Cornerstone is Jesus; that Source is the Saviour.

I’m not sure what people on the street think of the One we worship in this room. I need to be a bit more direct in asking folk. ‘What’s Jesus to you?’

A couple decades ago, Christian thinker, Dallas Willard, taught about how smart Jesus Christ was and is. “There is in our culture an uneasy relation between Jesus and intelligence,” Willard wrote, “and I have actually heard Christians respond to my statement that Jesus is the most intelligent man who ever lived by saying that it is an oxymoron... Almost on one would consider him to be a thinker...” (D. Willard, The Great Omission, 2006, p. 180)

Is Jesus the smartest person you know? Remember all the biblical language about the Wisdom of God. I, for one, have so much yet to learn about being close to Jesus and accessing the wisdom of God. We have this good news to offer our world also. Yet it is shown best in our lives, not in our own talking.

One of the earliest accounts of Francis [of Assisi], the “Legend of Perugia,” quotes Francis as telling the first friars, “You only know as much as you do.”

The early Franciscan friars and Poor Clares wanted to be Gospel practitioners instead of merely “word police,” “inspectors,” or “museum curators” as Pope Francis calls some clergy.  (R. Rohr May 29, 2017)

[Condemned by religion] Speaking of ‘word police’ or religion ‘inspectors,’ we must face the tradition of rules that sometimes overtakes Faith. We know we must counteract the stereotype of Xianity as a legalistic, rule-filled organization. We did earn this stereotype through our failures!

There has been many a joke told on Christians about how we won’t get along or agree. Like: put two Baptists in a room, and you’ll get three opinions. We are called upon to keep on showing how we do get along, how we do agree to disagree about some things. I must say you (at least, First Baptist) have a reputation for being a wide variety of Christians who do get along, cooperate, and stay together.

Back in those earliest days of the Christian movement, we get hints of the challenges those people faced. Colossians 2 says, at one point: 16 Therefore, do not let anyone condemn you in matters of food or drink or of observing festivals, new moons, or Sabbaths. 17 These are only a shadow of what is to come, but the body belongs to Christ. The way Christians do their religion has not been just one way. We have such variety! Not all of it, good, of course. Here, we continue to have the challenge of learning to be practicing Christians, without being corrected all the time, and without criticizing other believers every week.

I’ll tell a story on a fellow I know, far from here. He is a Christian, and I got to know him from hiking trips we were on together, and when he joined a Bible study group I led. In person, in the study group, he was interesting and pleasant. On social media, though, the posts he shared were often direct in condemning others... correcting Christians for getting all sorts of details wrong.

My friend would share things on Facebook regularly about the real name of Jesus – what we should be saying (and how to spell it). For instance:

Not Jesus, not Yahshua, not Yahushua,

BUT Yahusha!!!!!

Acts 4:12 Neither is there salvation in any other; for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.

I’m not sure where this teaching came from, but this dear fellow was always sharing things like this. And things about Sunday not being the Sabbath, and Christmas being a pagan festival, and so forth. Here’s another example from online:

Keeping a weekly Sabbath is a sign, that you are still under the law and you need to be born again. Will you enter into His rest? And, cease from your works

I have not much patience for this kind of religious teaching; but I have all the patience in the world for my friend who posted this online. When Jesus is in us, inspiring us to be patient with others, we will show our world that true religion is uniting, not dividing people. As I usually say, religion, at its best, is a way people share spirituality. The Church is a gift from God.

Spiritual teacher, Richard Rohr, says: We can’t risk walking around with a negative, resentful, gossipy, critical mind, because then we won’t be in our true force field. We won’t be usable instruments for God. That’s why Jesus commanded us to love. It’s that urgent. It’s that crucial. (Richard Rohr, Oct 30, 18)

[Disqualified for spiritual practices] A third and final phrase I want to draw out from Col. 2 is, I think, about personal spirituality. This long sentence: 18 Do not let anyone disqualify you, insisting on self-abasement and worship of angels, initiatory visions, puffed up without cause by a human way of thinking, 19 and not holding fast to the head, from whom the whole body, nourished and held together by its ligaments and tendons, grows with a growth that is from God.

Whatever all these things were like, 2000 years ago, they seem to be about personal spiritual practices. Again, here’s Eugene Peterson’s take on this: Don’t tolerate people who try to run your life, ordering you to bow and scrape, insisting that you join their obsession with angels and that you seek out visions.

You will learn, in time, that I am a lover of spiritual disciplines, or spiritual practices – whatever we want to call them. At least, I have loved learning about them and exploring them. I just have not got good at actually fasting, meditating, being in solitude, memorizing scripture, or just praying, for that matter. There are many forms of prayer and devotion, and so many of us miss out on a lot. But let us not be known for being harsh with others when it comes to how they pray or worship, or however else they spend quality time with God.

I looked back this week into Richard Foster’s book on prayer, with twenty-one chapters for twenty-one types of prayer. I like his imagery here, in the first chapter, called ‘Simple Prayer.’

What I am trying to say is that God receives us just as we are and accepts our prayers just as they are. In the same way that a small child cannot draw a bad picture so a child of God cannot offer a bad prayer. (Foster, 1992 Prayer, p.9)

Then, like a child artist, we develop our praying through life, we don’t stay with crayons and finger paints. There is so far we can go. Christian meditation, lectio divina, pilgrimage, prayer without words.

And yet, there is something to be said for crayons, and finger painting. Simple prayer and Bible reading are not to be judged; they have their place in our lives. The riches of the Christian tradition are ours to offer the world, and Christ is with us - starting with the simplest of prayers.

We have some help to offer. To offer the people of Amherst, and Cumberland County, and the world. A person need not be captive, condemned, or disqualified, for their thinking, their religious life, their spirituality. There is a Way, a path of grace. Keep on doing what you are doing.

In a world of critics, be an encourager. Christ develops such kind grace in us.

In a world of fears, be confident. Christ lovingly draws us together.

In a world of a million confusing choices, choose to be faithful. Christ powerfully is present in Spirit.

Clerk, Calamites & Car Keys

What do you do on the hottest day of the summer? Go on a field trip to a beach! What better way to get to know three church members? I spent lots of quality time with my new Church Clerk, her father and aunt, today. Our destination? Mary's Point national wildlife area, NB - between Hopewell Rocks and Cape Enrage.

Along the way, Tammy and I got to confer about church membership matters, including the process Sharon and I are taking to join First Baptist Amherst. I even had the Church Constitution with me to refer to in the car! And I got to know Dan and Elaine - what great adventurers they all are! Lots of laughter and good stories were shared.

Part of Tammy's life has been work as a geologist, so this destination was aimed at the fossil-bearing rocks... for the fun of it. Dan found this sample of a plant stem on the beach: Calamites. Very nice. 

I was looking at all the living plants, of course, on this 30 C day. 

The scenery was fabulous in and of itself, with these rocky islands amidst the expanses of mudflats. 

We got back to the car after wandeing out to the point and back, 6 kms... but the car keys promptly got locked IN the car! So we spent an extra hour hanging around: 30 C outside, and very air-conditioned in the interpretive centere. At last, a CAA fellow from Moncton arrived and got Tammy into the car: Hooray! 

Off we headed for home, with an obligatory stop at Trueman's for home-made ice cream, of course! ;) I wonder where the next adventure will be? 

Sermon: Hold It Together

 Hold It Together

10:30 am, Sun, July 17, 2022 - J G White / FBC Amherst

(Amos 8:1-12; Colossians 1:15-28; Luke 10:38-42)

 Ah, we have enjoyed strawberries, and now a succession of other summer fruit will continue. Blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, gooseberries, plums... Yum yum. Once upon a time, things were falling apart for the people of God in Israel. And the prophet Amos warned them! (Amos 8) 1 This is what the Lord God showed me: a basket of summer fruit. 2 He said, “Amos, what do you see?” And I said, “A basket of summer fruit.” Then the Lord said to me,

“The end has come upon my people Israel;

    I will spare them no longer.”

In the Hebrew language, ‘basket of fruit’ and ‘the end’ are words that sound similar: qayis & qes.

The prosperous people of God were to fall. The rich people were oppressing the poor, and greedy for making it rich. When we read from such prophets as Amos, we take a glimpse at word pictures about the fall of a nation: things truly break apart.

Things are moving in the opposite direction in the New Testament today, as we heard words about Christ holding things together, reconciling things, all things. Colossians has this grand language about the Son of God holding all things together. Do we see this? Do we know it? Do we show it?

The first of my three points today is to say that Christ does Hold Together Creation. Let me start by speaking in the style of Amos. (This was inspired by looking at the discolouration of our two buildings.)

This is what the Master God showed me – a gray crust on the red sandstone church. God said, “Jeffrey, what do you see?” And I said, “Lichens, growing on the stone.” Then God said to me,

A new beginning is coming upon My people,

Teamwork and cooperation,

Like the symbiosis of fungi and algae

in the lichens that start growing on bare rock.

It was the author of the Bible book, Colossians, who wrote of Christ: 17 He himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together. In Christ Jesus all things hold together? The Bible is a very human book – mostly about us and for us. Christianity is a human religion – all aimed at people, for the most part. Yet we get this message, again and again, all creation is involved. God we call Creator; Christ is part of creating also – from the beginning, ‘before all things.’

Without exploring this deeply right now, I wonder about this phrase that suggests the death of Jesus is for much more than getting rid of our sins. It is about all the world, the universe.

20 and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross.

Our day-to-day activities as part of the environment are a large aspect of our walk with God. So I am interested in where Christ leads us. I am going to meet with someone next week to hear about the Chignecto Naturalists Club, which needs a new beginning and new leadership. (Let me know if you are interested in nature!) In congregations, I have always dreamed of creating a new goal each year that we would celebrate at Earth Day, in April. Such as, we become a model of recycling and garbage and composting at our Church. Then, for the next year’s goal, we learn how to use up a lot less paper – paper does not grow on trees, I always say!

Is our Jesus still holding things together on this planet? And can we be better team members with Christ, to bless all living things? Colossians 1 mentions 23 the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven. Let us be people with good news for all creatures, great and small. As Francis of Assisi supposedly said, Preach the Gospel to every creature and, if you must, use words.

The jumping off point for my second assertion is Colossians 1:18 He is the head of the body, the church. What does Jesus do? Hold Together the Church. & it certainly does need some ‘holding together;’ we do.

Within the hour, we will be singing that old hymn, the Church’s One Foundation, which I have always liked, but maybe less so now. The language is quite dated: the Church is She, God is He, Man is the troublemaker. (All quite biblical imagery, I must admit.) To me, the message is idealistic and realistic, at the same time: 

Elect from every nation

    Yet one o’er all the earth

Thou with a scornful wonder

Men see her sore oppressed,

By schisms rent asunder,

    By heresies distressed;  (Samuel John Stone)

There is a holding together of the Christian Church by Christ, through all time and space. To be with Jesus is to be with everyone who is also in Christ. I have said before, there is a real miracle in this: humans belonging together and being one. It takes an act of God! But what is our part? To live by this. We are one, thanks be to God.

Let me take time in the middle of things here to read you a story. A story of Safed the Sage, by William E. Barton, published about one hundred years ago. Rev. Barton wrote many stories about Safed, back then, in an even older, old-fashioned style, that I find quite endearing. This story is called ‘The Private Car.’

There is a certain man whose abiding place is a city where is a great Railway Station, even a Terminal, and this man determined within himself that he would go upon a Journey. So he walked unto the Terminal, and he bought a Ticket, and he paid the Fare. And he presented the Ticket at a Gate where stood a Watchman and the Watchman punched his Ticket and spake unto him saying, Thy train is all ready on Track Number Six.

And he beheld the Cars, and they were filling up rapidly. And he said. Behold, they will all be crowded, and I shall suffer Discomfort.

And he beheld the last Car, which was nearest unto the Gate, and behold, there was no one in it. And he said, This will I do. I will go into that Car, and I shall have Abundant Room.

So he went within, and he had all the Room he Wanted, even the Whole Car. And he smiled within himself when he thought of the other Passengers who were Jammed into the other Cars.

And while he was Hugging Himself for Joy, and considering what a smart Guy he was, behold, the train pulled out, and left him and his Private Car standing upon the track.

And he rushed out and spake angrily unto the Watchman, and he said. Wherefore am I left behind?

And the Watchman said, That is an Extra Car which we keep on the track to use in case there be a greater crowd than we expect, but today there was no great crowd. Yea, and there had been room enough for thee in one of the cars that went, but thou didst want more room, and thou hast all the room in sight. Yea, and upon the Side Track out in the yard are many empty cars. Thou canst take thy seat in any one of them. But if thou desirest to ride unto the City for which thy Ticket readeth, behold there will be another train in four hours and fifteen minutes; and take heed that thou enter the cars that go.

Now, this I beheld, for I was in the Station, even the Terminal, and I saw that man, yea, and I heard that man: and what I heard was a plenty.

And I considered that often I am caught in the Jam of life, with people crowding and pushing, and it were much more comfortable to find a quiet seat in some Rear Car, where the wicked cease from troubling and the weary are at rest. But I considered how that if a man is to get anywhere he must go with Folks, even though they crowd, and that no one man can do very much without the companionship and help of other men. Therefore did I resolve to keep out of the Private Cars that do not go nor get a man anywhere but learn the art of going and working with other men. For I have seen that for the lack of the ability to do this, some men are left on the track in their own Private Car, while the enterprises of life move on.

I believe the Faith we share here today, is in essence a shared thing. Because life is! Our core hope and mission is about reconciliation, being held together, belonging. Your task and mine is to take our own steps in that direction. This brings me to conclude with my final point today.

Christ also lives to Hold Together You and God. We have these words from Colossians 1 ...you...22 he has now reconciled in his fleshly body through death, so as to present you holy and blameless and irreproachable before him. As you may well know, it is the work of God to connect us to Godself. We get drawn in, the divine relationship gets healed, it is about the human soul and the Holy Spirit.

The amazing things we have been given, and that we give to the world, are 27 the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

The glorious One who is in us,

holds all things together.

Visitors from Digby and Germany

Friends from Digby came up to see us today! Alison brought kids Gabe and Eliana, and former exchange student, Tjark, for a relaxing afternoon in Amherst. We lounged around at the house, and briefly outside, until the mosquitos took over. We had a tour of First Baptist too, and got take-out pizza for supper. Was great to see this group again, especially Tjark, who has been away for a couple years. 

After these folks hit the road for a night back in Windsor with family, I went for a little hike at the local bird sanctuary. I took a few plant photos to post to iNaturalist, and watched a few waterfowl. Had not been there in years, but now I will be back frequently. 

Garden Blogger's Bloom Day

A few years ago, my blog was purely a gardening blog. And I knew the fifteenth of each month was Garden Blogger's Bloom day. Well, here goes... 

We just moved to our new NS town, Amherst, about three weeks ago. Some of the plants in pots, and healed in the ground, are blooming. One of the prolific weeds in this county is valerian - it is everywhere! This little bit is in our back yard. 

I remember growing in in flower beds years a go. Now it see it as a weed, in my new stomping ground. I will still enjoy it as much as possible. Here are a few final images. These are: a pitcher plant hybrid with a late bloom; St Bernard's lily; and a Persicaria, if memory serves me correctly. Check out other garden blogs, especially those posting for GBBD at May Dream Gardens. 

My next post will likely be Sunday's sermon: "Hold It Together."

  

When Little Don's Away...

To celebrate my new-to-me car, today, a few of the First Baptist staff took off for Trueman's Buleberry Farm and ICE CREAM. Wow. Yum. Too bad our intrepid Minister of C. E., Don, was away for a wedding and missed the road trip. 

Sharon White did join in on the antics, and got a first drive in my Toyota Yaris. This is not the Yaris, this is Evangeline, the train that used to be at Upper Clements Park.

Let me introduce this entourage... secretary Angela, interim custodian Shawna, organist and choir director Kevin, and my wife, of course, Sharon.

We got back into town just in time for a fire call, so we swiftly dropped Sharon off at the station. We also got back in time for Jeff White, our computer tech, to drop by and help Angela out with our website. Here's JGW and JDW. 

Sermon: Spiritual Wisdom & Understanding

 

10:30 am, Sun, July 10, 2022 - J G White / FBC Amherst

(Amos 7:7-17; Colossians 1:1-14; Luke 10:25-37) 

As I unpacked books onto the shelves of my new study, here, I came upon a Nova Scotian booklet called ‘Sayings From Wise People,’ compiled by Hattie Dyck. It is a collection of quotations, with such gems as these: 

“Don’t take credit for sunshine, or you’ll be blamed for the rain.”

“If a snake weren’t crooked, he’d never get anywhere.”

“The worst decision is indecision.” (pp. 8-9)

My Dad has some definite wisdom, and some of it comes out in the stock phrases he uses. A few sayings he would use on us kids are the following:

“You’re a gentleman and a scholar.”

“A word to the wise is sufficient.”

“Like it or lump it.”

Oh, to be wise and understanding! Whether you are thirty-one, fifty-one, or ninety-one, we have gained some wisdom, and we have more to learn. We have used some good sense, and we are going to need more and more. I got onto this theme from today’s epistle reading, the first of four in a row from Colossians. The writer of this letter says, we have not ceased praying for you and asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of God’s will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding... (1:9) Typical of these New Testament letters, the opening greetings move into prayers for the recipients of the epistle. Prayers for things they need: spiritual wisdom & understanding.

In the ‘Brief Order for the Celebration of the Lord’s Supper’ that I used last Sunday for communion, I read this phrase: ...and pray for the strength to know and to do the blessed and holy will of God. This prayer is like the prayer at the start of Colossians: praying for wisdom and knowledge of God’s will.

Within the Christian path, wisdom and understanding are tied to ‘the will of God,’ so called, the plan, the purpose, and way that the Creator has for us. Some people have a real gift of wisdom, often because their life experiences have taught them to be wise. You might think of others you know, followers of Christ, who seem to have a real grasp on what God wants and plans for them, and for others. I think this gets called ‘the gift of discernment;’ when a person is inspired to see as the Spirit sees.

For many of us, most of the time, we might think about the will of God when things have already happened. We try to see what God did, what God wanted, and how things in life fit into some divine plan. It is not easy. It does take wisdom. No wonder the writer of the letter to the Colossians prayed for it.

One of the wisest people I had in my life is now dead, but I was reading a booklet of his teachings on the will of God this past week. He was a theology professor and a pastor: a deep thinker and a deeply compassionate human being. Dr. M. R. Cherry wrote these personal stories:

When I was a sophomore in college, I was called out of a class one morning to be told that my father had dropped  his gun and killed himself. And people said to me, “We don’t understand it, but it was the will of God.” Frankly, I did not find that very helpful. I could have dealt with the fact if somebody had suggested that we are responsible, and that we are supposed to be careful when we are handling guns. ...But the suggestion that God caused this to happen I didn’t find very helpful.

Dr. Cherry goes on... Several years passed and one afternoon after watching a football game on T. V., I went to dinner. Someone came to me and said, “Cherry, they’ve been trying to get you on the phone for some time. Will you take a phone call?” When I answered the phone I was told that my mother, on her way home in her car, had been struck by a train going 90 miles and hour and had been killed. We never saw her; they picked up the pieces and put them in the casket and buried it. And again I was assured that it was the will of God. Frankly, I didn’t find that very helpful. And I don’t think many other people do. |(Cherry, M. R., The Will of God, Lancelot Press, May 1984, p.5)

I think Cherry, and other wise Christians, have been right in warning against just saying everything is God’s will. As life goes on, we learn to express ourselves better. I believe that when we say, in the face of tragedy, “It’s God’s will,” or, “He doesn’t give us more than we can handle,” we are simply expressing emotions, not explaining theology. We are trying to speak God’s care and love, despite the terrible and painful things that happened. We are reaching for the great hopes that there is healing for life’s hurts, and there is a God we can be personal with, who is powerful, and who is good and only good.

That New Testament prayer for the believers in Colossae to know God’s will was so that they would “live lives worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, as you bear fruit in every good work and as you grow in the knowledge of God.” This brings out another aspect of ‘the will of God:’ how to make decisions and do the right thing.

We heard the well-known and loved story of Jesus we call ‘the Good Samaritan, which really is no longer a very helpful title. Perhaps we pew people still know that, in the time and place of Jesus’ life, the Samaritan people were considered foreigners, religious heretics, and basically unclean people. People the Jews avoided. Jesus, a Jew, did not avoid them. And in this parable, He uses His usual dramatic storytelling to shock and challenge the audience. A Samaritan, of all people, truly acted like a neighbour to the man who had been mugged.

Oh to do good work in this world! To be a neighbour to everyone. To “live lives worthy of the Lord,” as Colossians 1 says. In my first week ‘on the job’ here, I just glimpsed the challenges of being a neighbour to every sort of person in downtown Amherst. You who are part of the fellowship, and come by to help out, or just to say hello and visit. The tourist from Lunenburg who wanted to see the beautiful Church her dear friend told her to visit. The homeless fellow who was starved for food – so I fed him half a dozen granola bars and two cups of fruit – and who just wanted to get away from all the other people hanging around town, bugging him.

 I have usually wanted – and likely needed – more wisdom and understanding to be of real help to people, especially perfect strangers to me. In our faith communities, we learn to rely upon our spiritual resources to guide us, and to empower us. What did the author of Colossians claim? “We have not ceased praying for you and asking...” I urge you to keep on in prayer for me and one another, as we ‘bear fruit,’ which is the practical good stuff we do for others. When we see blessings being given out, we praise and thank one another – that, in itself – is helpful.

Spiritual wisdom and understanding is for the sake of living well. And let me end by touching upon the wisdom needed for a group. I think of the harsh words of an ancient prophet like Amos as an expression of the will of God for a whole nation. With his creative preaching, Amos declared that the LORD says, “See, I am setting a plumb line in the midst of my people Israel.” The holy will is for things to be made right.

We have this confidence that together, in our congregations, we have divine guidance. For instance: your minister leaves. You get organized to seek another. You discern who you are as a Church. You seek candidates. You meet and interview. You make a decision – congregation and Minister. And there you have it, your new minister: Susan!

One other example: First Baptist’s sponsorship of the Pavlichenko family, living in one room in Poland right now. This project feels like a response to a need, an answer to many prayers, and obedience to the will of God. What wisdom do we have? What knowledge? Is this God’s plan, to have this family of five come to our town in Canada. Talking with Oleksandr on Friday, he expressed his trust that we are doing the right thing now, even if they end up not getting here.

It caught my attention that Oleksandr spoke of God’s will. When I asked about specific prayer requests, he spoke of being confident in the will of God, even when we do not know what it may be, exactly. Will they get here? Or will they end up staying somewhere, in some nation in Europe? May God’s will be done.

In other words, may the best things, the blessings the Master intends, be given and happen.

The wisdom and knowledge needed for good decisions is rooted in seeking. What we call prayer. What we call cooperation. We don’t live life on our own. We are together in figuring it out. And we are with the gracious Saviour who is our Way, our Truth and our Life.

As you, our United Church friends, declare, We are not alone, we live in God’s world.